Building Bonds
by The Goliath Beetle
Summary: Kakashi obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan by killing Rin, his best friend. But how did their relationship grow from teammates to friends? -Platonic KakaRin-ONESHOT. Rated for language.


**A/N: So, just hear me out on this one. Kakashi ends up killing Rin and inadvertently activates the Mangekyou Sharingan, right? That means they were best friends, right? This is me expanding on that idea. How did they really become friends at all? Because in Gaiden, our Kashi-kun is a total jerk. He didn't mind leaving Rin behind. That's why, I want to see how this relationship develops.**

**Though I'm a KakaRin shipper, this particular fic will be platonic. **

**One more thing: I've taken the prompts from YamiHigushi's post on Quizzila. **

* * *

_Beginning_

* * *

It's a day bathed in sunlight when Rin visits Kakashi in hospital. After they got back from the Kannabi Bridge mission, the medics had whisked him away, not trusting Rin's spur-of-the moment surgery. Rin doesn't mind. Whatever's best for him.

He has been very quiet lately, and he sits very still against his pillows. His palms are placed on his blanketed lap and he's staring at them. She can tell from the haunted look in his lone black eye that he's having flashbacks of the past, of the mission, of Obito…

He looks up when she walks in. She sees him swallow. "I…I was just thinking of you," he whispers hoarsely.

"Oh," she says in surprise and blushes. It's incredible how he can make her feel so shy and stupid when he's the one dressed in those ridiculous white hospital-issued pajamas with the bandage across his left eye (Obito's left eye).

He says, "I was thinking about…about the mission."

"Kakashi, you know that's not healthy. Obito wouldn't have wanted—"

"I made a conscious decision to leave you behind. To abandon you."

And his words sting her, but she tries to keep her composure. At times like this, she wants to hate him but she can't. She's cursed with that ability to empathize, to see things from another person's perspective. She can go deeper and understand the inner workings of their minds. She knows why Kakashi chose to abandon her that day. She doesn't like him for it, but she can't blame him either.

His voice breaks, now. So does his composure. A single tear travels down from his charcoal eye and he quietly, silently sobs, "Rin…I'm so sorry…I am _so _sorry."

She swallows, nods, and places her hand on his shoulder. She can feel her eyes stinging as well when she softly whispers, "I forgive you."

* * *

_Anger_

* * *

It's simply one of those nights. She knows the kind. The sort of evening where nothing and no-one is safe—or at least, _she_ isn't safe. The danger lurks within and around the environment, coming from the far-flung reaches of existence and attacking right where it hurts. The sense of security. Men shouldn't think they have the right to a woman's body, but this creep is just another one in a long list of perverts Rin has had to fight off.

She's training, and it's past ten thirty. The darkness is cool, washing over her like a drink at the end of a long day. Her taijutsu could use a bit of work, and the training grounds are usually empty at this time of night.

She hadn't counted on a certain gent who smelled like a combination of sake and an unwashed body. He tramples through the grass and approaches her. "Hello there," he grins, his breath indicating that he's clearly consumed the contents of an entire pub all on his own. "Aren't you the pretty one? What's your name?"

She pays him no heed, but it's difficult. At the same time, she can't seem to gather up her Chakra very well. His presence near her has put her on guard, leaving her unable to focus on her training.

When he comes _too _close, she whips around. "Leave me alone, you jerk!" and she almost sends a punch his way.

Almost.

Someone beats her to it.

Someone who comes from behind her, knocks the drunk to the ground and continues to kick him until the pervert is well and truly unconscious and bleeding from the side of his head.

Kakashi's eye is full of dangerous fire when he turns to face Rin next. "Did he hurt you?" he snarls. His protectiveness shocks her. He's never been like that before.

"…No, I'm alright. I was about to send him flying to his death anyway." Her words are chosen with caution, because she's never seen Kakashi so angry before, and he looks ready to kill an unconscious, unarmed man.

The masked teenager swears loudly. "Are you alright?" he asks again. His uncovered eye asks for permission as his hands gently make contact with her shoulders. He doesn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. She's probably on edge as it is anyway. "Rin? Are you alright?"

Rin's smile comes as a surprise even to her. "Kakashi, I told you, I'm fine." Her eyes travel to the creep lying wounded on the grass. "What do we do with him?"

Kakashi gives the pervert a look of pure poison. His fury is just _uncharacteristic _of someone as calm and as collected as him. His glare right now is not something that Rin is going to take lightly. She's inwardly glad not to be on the receiving end of it. "Just leave him there, the bastard," he snaps. "Let's get something to eat. I'll help you with your taijutsu in the morning, okay?"

"Okay…"

Kakashi doesn't remove his protective hand from her lower back until they are very, very far away from the training grounds.

* * *

_Philosophy_

* * *

All Rin knows that the mission went badly. Nobody actually tells her this in exactly those words, but Gai's unusually quiet demeanor and Kurenai's reluctance to make eye-contact is enough for her to figure out that whatever mission that the Hatake, Maito and Yuuhi had gone on didn't end the way the three of them had wanted it to.

She can't even find Kakashi. He's vanished. Her blue-eyed sensei had been rather taciturn when she'd asked him why her friends had looked so miserable as they entered the gates of Konoha. All the Fourth Hokage had said was that Kakashi is probably upset and she should go cheer him up.

Well, gladly. But where _is_ that idiot?

Rin finally finds him standing by the memorial stone that both of the visit so often, and he's quietly telling Obito about all the mistakes he made during his most recent mission and how he should have done this differently and that differently. Rin approaches him shyly. She has a bento box in her hands. It contains cake*. Strawberry cake.

He glances at her as she nears him. "Hello."

"Hi," Rin responds, standing beside him. "Hey, Obito." Turning to Kakashi, she says, "Would you like some?" and she thrusts the bento box in his face.

He blinks at her, and then at her offering before slowly shaking his head. "I don't like sweets."

"Oh, come on. Have some. I made it myself." She paused and grinned. "Well, okay, I bought it. But it's still very good. Just try some."

"But, Rin—"

"My philosophy is that when you're depressed, eat sugar. It always works." And she gives him a big, big smile that's really a laugh without the laughing.

He raises an eyebrow at her. "Oh, alright. If you insist." Surrendering to her whims, he picks up a small piece of the cake, lowers his mask and puts it in his mouth. Kakashi chews slowly. Then he swallows.

"Well?" Rin questions, enjoying this thoroughly.

In his usual 'hip and cool' style, as Gai would put it, Kakashi calmly wears his mask again and says, "It's good. But I don't like sugar."

Rin rolls her eyes at his vague response.

"However," Kakashi adds as an afterthought, "Your philosophy is correct."

* * *

**A/N: There you go. **

***Is there cake in the Naruto-verse? I don't know. I don't care. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review! **


End file.
